Nudity on rise for social media and OTT
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Central Government, Netflix, Ullu Digital Limited, Alt Balaji, Twitter, Meta Platforms and Google on a plea seeking a ban on obscene content on OTT and social media platforms. The plea was filed by former information commissioner Uday Mahurkar and others. The petition has demanded that the court direct the central government to set up a National Content Control Authority to frame guidelines to prevent obscenity on these platforms. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of the Central Government and said that the government is taking this petition seriously. He also pointed out that this type of content is having a negative impact on children. "We have also seen that parents give phones to children to keep them busy. Justice Gavai said that we are anyway being accused that we are interfering in the work of the legislature and the executive. In the name of online education, giving or providing smartphones to children and providing data to them all the time has become a compulsion of parents. Now whether parents are educated or uneducated, they are not keeping an eye on the activities of their children every moment, in such a situation, the growing smartphone market in India is also creating new challenges in front of parents. Since the arrival of the smartphone, the use of social media has been increasing continuously and as its use is increasing, its positive as well as negative effects are coming to the fore. They are directly attacking Indian society, culture and family traditions. Anti-India elements are also spreading the distortion of material lust, nudity and obscenity in the society through social media. This is giving rise to frustrated lust and sick mentality within the society, to stop which the government, administration and society will have to come together and take strict steps. On the one hand, where there is a lot of unwanted scenes on social media, on the other hand, the earnings from social media platforms are coming out as a big reason. On social media, any normal person can upload such content by creating his account, about which there is no restriction and restriction on the social media platform. These types of social media accounts are growing very fast.
The business of obscene short films and web series is going on indiscriminately by showing greed for money in the society. The unfettered circulation of obscene and anti-cultural content on mobile apps and OTT web portals is a major failure of the government. While you can use these platforms from the point of view of refinement of your interests and mutual reconciliation, some evil people are engaged day and night to make money from these platforms and pollute the social atmosphere by spoiling our youth power. Therefore, a legal ban on obscenity being served on these mediums has become the biggest need today.
According to a report, the number of Internet users has increased by 7.6 percent in the last one year and it has reached 4.72 billion. In India, millions of Indians visit other social media sites a month, including about 200 crore on Facebook, 100 crore on YouTube, 70 crore on Instagram, 25 crore on Reddit, 15 crore on Pinterest, 16 crore on Ask FM. Today, due to misinformation and hiding age, even young children of 9-10 years have opened their accounts on Facebook and are using social media indiscriminately. When governments crack down on alcohol, cocaine, heroin and other drugs as deadly to the youth, is abusing people in the name of stand-up comedy, making ridiculous comments on the personal life of parents and breaking all limits of language any less than mental addiction? It is not only the drugs that are responsible for pushing the younger generation in the wrong direction, but the erosion of social and moral values is equally dangerous. The Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act (IT Act) have stringent provisions for such cases. Section 292 of the Penal Code criminalises the production, sale and circulation of obscene material.
Section 67 of the IT Act provides for punishment for spreading obscenity through electronic means. Similarly, the POCSO Act criminalizes any kind of obscene or sexual expression before minors, but the question arises whether these laws are being implemented properly? Anti-India elements are constantly trying to create frustrated lust within the society through social media, to stop which there is a need to stop the government, administration and society together. The central government is planning to replace the existing IT Act with the Digital India Bill. The new law aims to curb obscenity on social media. The government has been working on this bill for 15 months and it will include specific rules for various sectors such as telecommunication, IT and media.